NY Giants: Time to lock Dalvin Tomlinson up with extension

Dalvin Tomlinson picked the right year to have his best season with the NY Giants and now deserves to get paid.

Dalvin Tomlinson has already done the unthinkable – remain on the NY Giants despite being a Jerry Reese draft pick. One of only a handful of players left from the last regime, Tomlinson has gotten better each season and is coming off a career year in 2019.

After Big Blue drafted Dexter Lawrence – who’s even bigger than Tomlinson – the third-year pro was able to spend more time at 3/4 defensive end and it paid dividends for him and the team. During his first two seasons, the former Alabama star seemed to be nothing more than a run stuffer and space eater, but the 26-year-old showed a whole new element to his game last year.

Clearly the additions of Lawrence and Leonard Williams helped open the door for Tomlinson’s breakout campaign, and keeping him and Lawrence paired up for the long haul gives Big Blue two monster defensive lineman that can make plays while setting things up for others.

Somehow, Tomlinson amassed just one quarterback hit over his first 32 games in 2017/2018. That number grew all the way to 9 in 2019, while he also tripled his career sack total with 3.5 and chipped in 7 TFL. The mammoth lineman had already shown how solid of a run defender he was as he totaled 109 tackles – including 59 solo – during those first two seasons.

Now that he’s becoming a more complete player and entering the last year of his rookie deal that will pay him just $1M, Dave Gettleman and the NY Giants should use some of their $75M in cap space to lock up one of their own. Getting out in front of this now could potentially save the team millions down the road.

One would have to guess that Tomlinson and his agent would be eager to discuss an extension, as the former second-round pick will be looking to capitalize on his 2019 success. It could be a win-win for both sides; Tomlinson gets guaranteed money on the bank while taking a slightly team-friendly deal, while the NY Giants lock up a promising young player for slightly under his market value.

Tomlinson has made it clear that he wants to be a Giant for years to come, telling the media that he wants to ‘be a Giant for the rest of my career’.

If Gettleman has made the determination that he wants Tomlinson around long-term, this is a no brainer. The best time to take care of in-house extensions is when the team is flush with cash, so there’s no time like the present for Big Blue.

Hypothetical extension offer: 4/$28M ($15M GTD)